Saturday 17th April 1976
WOODS LIFT THE GLOOM
NORTHWOOD 1 C.A.V. 1
After their abysmal showing in midweek, Northwood regained a little self-respect from this Middlesex League match with a strong C.A.V. side at Northwood Park on Saturday.
Their Middlesex League championship hopes now a thing of the past, Northwood began this game in a depressed mood after their home defeat by lowly Ruislip Town.
The depression was made even deeper by a C.A.V. goal in the first minute of Saturday’s match. C.A.V.’s Bates cleverly dummied over a low cross to allow Flanagan plenty of time to net, and thus make Northwood heads sink low.
But, unlike the Ruislip match, the heads went up again straight away, and the Woods forced their way back into things, inspired by the midfield duo of Robin Tidd and Steve Pearce.
Inspiration at the other end was provided by the Woods’ keeper Dave Russell, who thwarted the C.A.V. forwards in their attempts to go two up.
Working on this solid foundation, Northwood pressed forward and forced a series of corners in the last few minutes of the first half.
Off the last of these, the ball was not cleared properly by the C.A.V. defence, and it was lofted back into the box, where Barry Gould, who was still up following the corner, headed down to Din Dibbens, whose vicious volley gave the keeper no chance.
Northwood: Russell, Mills, Hammond, Gould, Presswell, Tidd, Franklin, Dibbens, Cooper, Pearce, Jones.
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